PAUL LAWRIE reckons he’s a cool dude after blanking the bizarre incidents going on around him to rocket into contention for a second Open title.

The 1999 champion will have few stranger days at the office than yesterday’s opening-round 65 that fired him into an early tie for second place on five under par.

First, a broken-down camera truck halted proceedings on the second just as playing partner Davis Love III was about to take his shot.

And then a fellow professional sauntered across the middle of the fairway as Lawrie was about to hit his tee shot on the sixth.

Of all the many obstacles dotted around this Royal Lytham and St Annes course, these were not two Lawrie could have prepared for.

Yet the Aberdonian took everything in his stride, even whistling his way down the eighth fairway after moving into an early lead on three under par.

But the most unusual aspect of yesterday’s display was that the 43-year-old got off to such a flying start without playing particularly well.

A few tugged tee shots and approaches to the greens could – and probably should – have earned him severe punishment.

But they don’t nickname this guy Chippy for nothing. And it has nothing to do with his love for a fish supper, either. No, the man’s a wizard with a wedge in his hand.

So when he chipped in twice for birdie in the space of three holes, then rolled home a putt from off the green at the sixth – more of which later – we were looking at a remarkable opening. Three putts for the first six holes and nine putts for the front nine.

If drives are for show and putts are for dough, then what value can you put on the kind of sizzling wedge play he treated us to yesterday?

The answer to that could be “priceless” if he leaves Lancashire with the oldest trophy in golf that auctioneers have declared beyond valuation.

Lawrie said: “The first six holes made for probably the strangest start of my career.

“I didn’t really hit many good shots. I was three under by chipping in twice and holed another from off the green.

“But we get enough bad luck so it’s nice when it goes your way now and again.

“After that I hit some really nice shots and played some solid golf. I hit the ball in the right places quite a lot to end up with a good score. Sometimes you get lucky.”

And sometimes you need to keep your head while all those around appear to be losing theirs. Like on that sixth hole, for example.

Buzzing from having just holed the second of his sensational chips from the edge of the previous green, Lawrie must have been desperate just to keep the momentum building as he bounded to the sixth tee.

Instead, he found the group ahead still waiting to play their second shot and after a lengthy wait, he encountered another delay no one could have expected.

Going through his pre-shot routine, he suddenly became aware of Matt Kuchar wandering across his path 100 yards down the fairway towards a portaloo, blissfully unaware of the danger he was in if Lawrie pulled the trigger.

The Scot grinned: “Well, I had done my practice swing and I was going to hit when someone said, ‘Kuchar is there’.

“So then I looked up and there he was walking across, obviously completely oblivious to the fact we were there.

“It can happen – I mean, we’re in our own wee world most of the time – but he was quite funny when he put his hands up in the air.”

But the strange nature of playing this particular hole didn’t end with Kuchar’s profuse apology.

Pulling his tee shot left, Lawrie could only bail out of the thick stuff and then laser an approach that left him a 15-footer from just over the back of the green.

But he’d have to wait a while to hit that putt as Love then proceeded to hit what could yet be a contender for the worst shot ever hit in the history of professional golf.

So wild was his shank that it whizzed over 100 yards right and narrowly missed a gaggle of English reporters, who were watching Lee Westwood, before stopping on the far side of the third green. Then after waiting an age for Westwood’s group to putt out, the American Ryder Cup captain chipped his attempted recovery short into a bunker.

All the while, Lawrie patiently waited and then waited some more until it was his turn.

And when it finally came, there was no hesitation, no sense of his being flustered amid all the chaos that had unfolded.

Just focus, a sweet roll from the back of the green and a superb par save to keep him in the lead on his own.

When asked just how he had managed to keep his focus on that rollercoaster of a hole, Lawrie just shrugged and said: “Well, I’m just a cool dude. I mean, what do you want me to say?”

Lawrie’s only bogey of the day came when he found a greenside bunker at the eighth hole.

But a terrific back nine saw him pull off consecutive birdies on 14 and 15 – the latter with a 30-foot putt – before finishing with a flourish on 18.

His precise approach to 18 left him a two-footer for birdie and a share of second place with Zach Johnson, just one shot adrift of leader Adam Scott.

That equals his best-ever single round score at The Open – he also shot 65 at Sandwich in 1993.

But more importantly, it raises hope the in-form Scot can repeat his moment of Open glory from Carnoustie back in 1999.

He added: “Well, it’s a great start.

“I’ve been playing really nicely obviously and that gives me a bit of confidence, built up over the last couple of years.

“So let’s hope I can keep going this week. But there’s still a long way to go and a lot can happen. It’s only Thursday.

“If you’re in this position with nine holes to play on Sunday, then you know you’ve had a great week.